While the UFC continues to be the king when it comes to MMA and gambling, there is more MMA than ever to bet on now. Promotions all over the world as well as domestic ones are showing up in sportsbooks. The advantage here is that the data is usually quite a bit less sharp than when you’re making MMA predictions for the UFC. So we’ve decided to dig into some each week to get you started on your regional MMA journey. This week we keep it domestic with PFL Finals 8 from Atlantic City, New Jersey for our regional MMA pick.
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MMA Regional Pick of the Week: PFL Finals 8
PFL Welterweight Fight: Sarek Shields vs Nick Meck
Card Start Time: Friday (8/1), 6:00pm EST (ESPN/ESPN+)
This is a fight between two guys who are likely going to try to execute similar game plans. Both of these guys like to wrestle and to control the realm of the fight.
Between the two of them, I really like Shields’ chances to actually pull it off. One of the primary reasons for that is how he blends the martial arts. He does a good job of getting the attention on his hands before setting up his takedowns. It paid off in his fight with Joseph Luciano, where he was able to neutralize the jiu jitsu specialist on the ground for the duration of the fight. Meck has a little more trouble putting it all together. His striking seems separate from what he’s doing in the wrestling game, and as a result we see a lot of naked shots.
Additionally, I think Shields has an advantage when it comes to searching for a finish. He has some sneaky good submission skills and we’ve seen Meck make some mistakes. Notable amongst those mistakes is giving up his back in effort to get to positions. If he does that against Shields in a scramble here, it may be all over.
With a number of different advantages, I like Shields to cash for us here as a moderate favorite.
PFL Finals 8 Pick: Sarek Shields ML (-205)
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